Crown of Thorns
by shandromand
Summary: Ruby Rose had promised her mom that she would look out for her little sister. When Adam Taurus took Yang's arm, Ruby decided that he had to pay with his head. Anyone who gets in her way will share his fate. On hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - A requested story that may not be very long - Caution: Graphic violence ahead!**

Ruby Rose had done her best to contain her fury. Penny had been torn apart, perhaps beyond repair. The woman who spoke on the coliseum loudspeakers had sown doubt and fear among the populace. The voice sounded familiar – she was certain it sounded like Emerald's teammate, Cinder Fall. Then the Grimm had attacked, let in by the White Fang. Events had swept Ruby up, and she desperately needed to find Yang. Her little sister had been Ruby's whole world since their mother had disappeared on a mission all those years ago. Her father had been away, and so Raven had made Ruby promise to look after Yang. It was one of the last things she'd said to her mom.

She had felt satisfaction at seeing Roman magically turn into bird food, but hadn't meant to cause General Ironwood's airship to crash. There wasn't time to worry about that. She had rushed through the school grounds as quickly as she could. When she got to the docks, she had exchanged quick words with her partner. Weiss had been hesitant, but also upset. When she had asked what was wrong, Weiss had stepped aside without a word. Ruby's heart had frozen inside her chest. Blake and Yang were laid out on the ground, the dark-haired Faunus apologizing to her unconscious sister. The sight of what remained of Yang's arm wrapped in bloodied bandages brought her to a deadly calm.

"What happened, Weiss?" Her hands were clenched into shaking fists.

"Blake wasn't making a lot of sense, but it sounds like Adam tried to kill them both." Weiss' voice was shaking with barely-contained anger. Sun walked over to where they were standing.

"Hey," he said in a subdued tone, "she's gonna be okay. The soldiers have a ship ready to take you guys to Vale."

"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing," Nora said as she sat, clutching her side in pain.

"Look guys, that giant Grimm keeps circling the school – even the White Fang are pulling out. We all have to go, _now!_ " His voice had an urgent tone to it.

Ren spoke with heat. He was kneeling next to Nora, and tried to stand. "We're not… leaving." He groaned and returned to his crouched position. Ruby would have been more concerned for the missing pair, but she could only stare at Yang. She had failed. She had broken her promise to her mother.

"They can handle themselves. Wait here for them and look after Blake and Yang." Ruby turned to face the campus.

"Wait, where are _you_ going?" Sun asked in disbelief.

"Hunting," Ruby flatly replied. She looked around at her partner. "Are you coming?" Weiss looked at her from beneath hooded eyes with a small smile at the corners of her mouth.

"Of course I am – as if you had to ask." She turned her head toward Sun. "We'll be back." She turned, and the duo set out at a run.

"You better be!" Sun called behind them. Ruby's mind raced as she and Weiss ran along the darkened paths. There were soldiers and Grimm fighting everywhere she looked. It took them several minutes of dashing between buildings before she found what she was looking for. A group of six men and women dressed in the jackets and masks of the White Fang were carrying sacks and weapons; it looked like they had been looting one of the training halls. Ruby wasted no time – she drew Crescent Rose and charged with a blood-curdling scream.

The Faunus were caught by surprise and looked around in confusion. Ruby unfurled her scythe and poured on her semblance as she ran past the right side of the group. She hooked a dog-tailed man across his midsection without bothering to stop. She fired and spun, pulling with her aura in a sharp jerk that clove him in half. He toppled and screamed, spraying blood and viscera all over his companions, who let out cries of terror and dismay. Grimm in the vicinity howled, but Ruby paid them no mind.

"Weiss, lock down two!" she shouted, firing another round and swinging Crescent Rose in a wide overhand arc, splitting a woman in half. She had killed plenty of Grimm in her budding career as a Huntress, but this was different, and at the same time it wasn't. They had made their choice, and were no better than the monsters they had unleashed upon them all. She breathed evenly and tried to ignore the coppery tang in the back of her throat. Weiss had wasted no time running one of them through with her rapier. She had dispatched the other by encasing him in a solid block of ice, presumably to suffocate. She had crouched down, and her gravity glyph had the two survivors pinned to the ground. Her once-pristine combat skirt and face were spattered with blood, and her eyes were wide.

"Weiss, are you good?" The heiress gave a mute nod. Ruby turned to face the two captives. "One of you is going to live, and the other is going to die horribly. The first one to tell me what I want to know gets to run away." There was no emotion in her voice. The fighting had receded, but it wouldn't do any good if they attracted more Grimm. The two masked men looked up at her from where they were pinned to the flagstones. The one to her left spat.

"We won't tell you anything, human scum!" Ruby raised her empty hand and made a fist.

"Weiss? Please crush them slowly." Her partner gave a growl of effort, and the prisoners let out howls of pain as the stone fractured beneath them. Ruby opened her hand, and Weiss let out a gust of air. The two men moaned pitifully. "Where is Adam going? I know he was too much of a coward to stay here." When neither of them spoke, Ruby balled up her hand again. Weiss amplified her glyph, and this time bones started to crack. The one on the left gave a high-pitched shriek, while the other babbled incoherently. Ruby gave another signal, sweeping her hand level with the ground. The glyph disappeared. "Weiss, perimeter check, if you please." The girl stood and prowled into the shadows. Ruby stood and waited patiently while the pair cowered and tried to move. After a few moments, the man to her right choked out a halting phrase.

"He was supposed to go to-"

"Shut up you fool!" the other shouted as he sat up. Ruby spun her scythe, severing his head, which sailed off into the darkness. Blood fountained from the vacant neck, spraying a wide fan into the air. It rained down on her, the last survivor, and the other corpses as the body fell back down.

"You were saying?" she said.

"M-Mistral. That's all I know, I swear! Mercy, please!" Ruby strode forward and reached down to grip a fistful of his jacket. She hauled him into a sitting position, causing him to yelp in pain. She gripped the edge of his mask and tore from his face. His eyes were a pale green and slitted like a cat's.

"Look at your friends." He did as she commanded. "Now look at me." He locked eyes with hers and began to shake. "Your filthy organization is at an end. Go back and tell them that if I see anyone wearing one of these," she flung the mask into his lap, "I will kill them. Get up." The cat man scrabbled weakly, and when he failed to rise, Ruby hauled him up by his hair. "Go on, run!" She gave him a shove and he nearly stumbled. He gave her one last fearful glance and spun around, then fled, weaving as he went. Weiss returned with silent steps.

"Did you get what you needed, Ruby?" she asked. Ruby nodded once.

"How do you feel about going to Mistral, partner?" Weiss shrugged in discomfort.

"I don't know… Did you mean what you said, about killing anyone wearing their colors?"

"Absolutely. Is that a problem?" Weiss looked down at the mess of corpses they had made. She shook her head slowly.

"No, but maybe we could avoid wearing their blood next time? This is never going to come out," she said, holding up the hem of her bloody skirt.

"Come on, let's see if the dorm is clear." Ruby didn't have to worry about stains so much, but they couldn't go back looking like they'd waded through a slaughterhouse. They set out for the dormitory.


	2. Chapter 2

"I most certainly will _not_ , father!" Weiss shouted at the aged man standing before her. Ruby had never seen Jacques Schnee, but had heard plenty about him – both from the news and his daughter, and very little of it good. He was immaculate in his white business suit, and his neatly trimmed mustache bristled at his daughter's defiance.

"Young lady, you will not speak to me in this manner. You are coming home with me, and that is final!" Weiss crossed her arms and glared back at him. "Don't look at me like that; your mother insisted."

"I highly doubt that, father," she retorted. Ruby hadn't heard much about her partner's mother beyond the fact that the woman had a temper. She had never pressed Weiss on the issue, but she got the feeling that family trouble was a gross understatement.

"Weiss, didn't you just have a birthday?" she asked. "If you're majority, he can't make you." The elder Schnee sputtered and pointed an accusatory finger at Ruby.

"You stay out of this! It's no business of yours!" Ruby crossed her arms and stuck out her jaw.

"I'd like to see you try to make me. Weiss is my partner, and my teammate, _and_ she's of age. You can't force her to do anything she doesn't want to." Jaques clenched his fist and shook it at her with baleful eyes.

"I'm sorely tempted to thrash you right here and now, you filthy little brat." A familiar voice spoke with placid calm from behind the two girls.

"You do that, Snow-Jo, and we're gonna have a big problem." Ruby and Weiss turned to see Qrow striding from the hallway and into the front room of her family's home. Mr. Schnee growled at the nickname. "I remember when you played this game with Winter, and look how well that turned out for you."

"So, the drunkard shows his face at last." If her uncle was bothered by the term, it didn't show.

"Seems to me the kid has a point, and you're a guest here. If all you came for was to bully her into being daddy's good little girl, I'd say you wasted a trip." Qrow drew out his flask and took a drink. Weiss remained cross-armed and silent.

"Weiss, I expect you to do as you are told," her father began, "and if you don't, I'll cut you off. For good." Her knuckles whitened against her sleeves, and she scowled at the man.

"Do whatever you think is best, father. That's what you're good at, after all." Her voice was filled with acrimony, but her posture was one of determination. He recoiled as if she had slapped him. He opened his mouth, and then decided against speaking. Instead he reached inside his jacket and withdrew a thick envelope, which he dropped onto the floor. He then turned and stalked out of the cabin without another word. Once the door had slammed shut behind him, Weiss looked down and let her arms drop. Ruby put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Qrow bent to retrieve the envelope and held it out for the ex-heiress, who shook her head.

"Maybe later; I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I don't want to deal with it right now." Qrow shrugged and tossed it onto the coffee table with a flip of his wrist. The packet landed with a heavy thump. Ruby knew that look on her friend's face – it said 'what did I just do?' She did her best to set Weiss' troubled mind at ease.

"Don't worry about it, Weiss. We'll figure something out when-" she cut herself off and glanced at her uncle. "We'll sort it out." Her dad had joined them at some point, and chose that moment to speak up, causing them all to turn.

"I only caught part of that, but I heard enough. You'll always have a place here, Weiss." Ruby gave her dad a grateful smile. He was always quick to help out those in need, and seemed to know just what to do. Weiss gave him an uncertain smile of her own.

"Thank you, sir-"

"Weiss, please, nobody ever calls me sir: Tai will do just fine – and no buts. You've fought alongside my daughters. That makes you family in my book." She looked at Ruby, who gave her an encouraging nod.

"Thank you s- Tai, I'm glad of the hospitality, and the warmth." She grew more somber. "How is Yang doing?" Worry furrowed his brow at the question. "Can we go see her?"

"She's… she's gonna be okay. It's going to take her some time, I think. She's all settled in, but you can go sit with her a bit – I think it would do her some good, even if she's a little foggy." He half turned and held an arm out to the hallway. Her dad and Weiss strode quietly toward the hall, but when Ruby went to follow them, her uncle hooked her elbow and held her back.

"Not so fast, kiddo. You and me need to have a little chat." Ruby grimaced as she recognized the tone in his voice. She faced him with fists clenched at her sides.

"What's there to talk about, Qrow? She got hurt, and I wasn't there to look out for her." He pointed two fingers at her chest.

"That's not what I'm talking about. You made a hell of a mess back at the school." Ruby's nostrils flared as she forced a breath through them. "Don't get me wrong, those pricks had it coming, but it isn't like you to off people. The princess I get – her family is one big target, has been for years. But you? What the hell, kid?" Ruby jerked her head guiltily to the side. Qrow, however, reached out a hand and gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his red eyes. "Talk to me, Ruby." She sighed, and pulled away from his hand, but didn't take her eyes off his.

"We had run-ins with the Fang a few times. This was different – it felt personal. There's a connection between Adam Taurus and Blake. I don't know why she ran off, but I'm sure he's got something to do with it."

"So, what? You think it's a great idea to just go tearing off after him?" He shook his head. "There's a bigger picture."

"And I'll bet your last bottle of top shelf he's up to his neck in it. This isn't like the Fang – it's too ambitious, and you know it."

"Don't get cocky, kid. You might be my star pupil, but there's always a bigger fish. You go chasing it, you're liable to get gobbled up," he retorted. "Let the Fall Maiden handle it." Ruby wasn't so sure Pyrrha was in any shape to handle tying her own shoes, let alone chasing after an adversary. She moved to join the rest of her family.

"I'll think about it," she tossed the phrase over her shoulder and kept walking. Qrow didn't try to stop her, but she missed the sly grin that spread across his face.

* * *

Ruby and Weiss had kept Yang company for about an hour. She seemed in good spirits, though Ruby was certain the pain medication was doing most of the work there. Yang even managed to make a couple of jokes about her missing arm. Weiss had helped brush her sister's hair, which kept her calm while Ruby changed the bandages. Yang fell asleep not long after that, and Tai quietly shooed them out to let her rest.

Ruby now lay in her bed and was staring at the ceiling, considering their next move. Qrow had hinted that there was more going on. Her thoughts turned to team Juniper, specifically to Pyrrha. She and Jaune had come back just like Ruby had said they would. Jaune hadn't been able to tell them much that made sense, going on about a vault under the school and Pyrrha had been even less coherent. They had beaten Cinder, but not before the CCT was destroyed. She had escaped, and was probably on her way back to Mistral. Ruby wasn't even sure about that – the woman had probably lied about everything. One thing was certain, though, she and Adam had to be in cahoots.

"Ruby, are you still awake?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah. You can't sleep either?" Something in the way her voice quavered told Ruby that events were finally catching up to her. If Ruby was being honest with herself, she wasn't without her own qualms. She'd been avoiding the memory of the previous night's bloodshed. It bothered her, but all she needed to dispel that doubt was to think of her sister.

"I can't, no. I've never killed anybody before."

"I hadn't either, Weiss. At least it was quick, which is better than they deserved." Ruby wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, but it was too late to change things now. They could only accept it and move on. "You of all people know that we can't let this stand."

"I know, it's just…" Weiss trailed off for a moment. "I have to wonder what Blake might say. We talked a lot after that night at the docks. She said that there were many in the Fang that joined because they were afraid. Good people who felt like they had no choice." Ruby's thoughts darkened at the mention of their absent teammate's name. She got why Blake ran – she was afraid she was bringing them trouble just by being around. It irritated her, though. She thought they'd gotten past that sort of thing after the incident at the docks. She also worried about their friend, out there all alone.

"I don't know. Evil only wins when good people do nothing." It was one of Raven's favorite sayings, and as far as she was concerned, her mom was right. "They went along with the plan to release Grimm into the school. I meant what I said – if they want to live with the mask, they can die with it too." Weiss said nothing, so Ruby boiled it down for her. "Adam hurt Yang, Weiss. As far as I'm concerned, they helped him do it."

"Then this should be about him, shouldn't it? I know you're angry – I am too – but there are a _lot_ of Faunus that belong to the 'cause'. Father's company security estimated that there were over fifteen thousand active members in Atlas alone. That's not even counting sympathizers." Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had a valid point.

"We won't run into that many, I'm sure. And this _is_ about Adam, him and the others running the Fang. I don't suppose you have any info on the leaders, do you?" If they could cut the heads off the King Taijitu, maybe it would throw the lot of them into disarray.

"Sienna Khan is the leader. Supposedly he operates somewhere on Anima, but not in Mistral proper. Finding out more will be a lot harder now that I'm disowned." Weiss sounded frustrated and disconsolate.

"Hey, we'll figure something out. And if it will put you at ease, we can always give them a chance to run away. Something tells me it won't be that simple, though."

"It does, and you're probably right." Weiss yawned. "I think I'll try to go to sleep now. Good night, Ruby."

"Good night, Weiss." Ruby shifted her pillow under her head and tried to do the same. Her eyes grew heavy an hour or two after Weiss' breathing had slowed.

 **A/N - I know some of you are anxious for the next chapter of Dust and Motes, but the combat sequence is being finicky. This was ready to go for the most part, and I've decided to let elements of v4 influence this story as they are revealed. If it seems a little vague in places, that's on purpose. Feel free to ask questions or point out inconsistencies. Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Ruby didn't sleep for very long. A nightmare chased her into panicked wakefulness, and struggled to untangle herself from the sheets. She sat up and rubbed her face vigorously, unable to recall what had frightened her so. When she peered out the window, it was still dark, and the clock read a little after three in the morning. The redhead listened as Weiss breathed quietly in the bed across the room, apparently enjoying an easier slumber than she had. She drew her knees up against her chest and folded her arms across them, resting her chin on top. Try as she might to remember the nightmare, all that would come were flashes of running and a woman shouting her name. Sleep was out of the question, and pursuing the shadowy corners of her mind seemed fruitless, so she tossed back the covers and clambered out.

Ruby didn't think she'd bother going back to bed, and decided to dress for the day. She put on her combat outfit, but left her boots off. Just because she couldn't sleep didn't mean that Weiss had to suffer along with her. She slipped out of the room and set the boots next to the door before padding down the hall to Yang's room – well, it _had_ been their room, but their father had wanted Yang to have some peace and quiet to recover. Ruby had been a little hurt at that, but he was probably right. She paused to listen at the door. Her father was probably sitting beside the bed like he used to when either of them got sick, but she didn't hear his snoring. She eased the door handle down and pushed it open carefully, and then peered inside.

Yang lay flat, her chest rising and falling with the measured pace of someone in a deep sleep. Her head was turned to the side, spilling her golden tresses in a cascading wave across the pillow. Her mouth hung slightly open, and she let out a little sigh every few breaths. Ruby could tell that they were noises of discomfort, her aura doing its best to heal her injury. She tried and failed to suppress a pang of guilt, causing her grip on the handle to tighten. The creaking metal caused Tai to turn from where he was seated in the shadows. "Ruby?" he whispered.

"Sorry, dad, I couldn't sleep," she fibbed in a subdued voice. He nodded his head and stood up, leaning over to draw the blankets covering Yang a little higher. When he straightened, he looked down at her for a moment, then turned and joined her in the hallway.

Tai closed the door and leaned his head against it. "I need coffee. You want some?"

"Sure, but only if you don't hog all the sugar." She'd meant for it to come off as teasing, but her voice betrayed that her heart just wasn't in it. If he noticed, it didn't show in the quiet chuckle he let out.

"Deal. Come on." They made their way down the stairs and through the darkened hallway. Tai flipped on the light as he passed through the kitchen doorway. Ruby sat down at the table and cupped the side of her face in her palm while he made a pot. Once the java started dripping, he joined her at the table. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

Ruby flicked her eyes over at him, hoping that her guilt didn't show. "Talk about what, dad?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you: Obviously there's something on your mind." He leaned back and crossed his arms. It was clear that he was worried, and that she wouldn't be able to avoid answering him.

"There's just so much. Everything is messed up now. The school is a mess, Grimm are loose in the kingdom, the world thinks Atlas attacked us, and Blake is gone." She drew invisible circles on the tabletop. "But that's not even the worst of it." When he didn't say anything, she laid both palms flat on the table and stared at the back of her hands - hands that had failed. "I promised her, dad. I promised mom that I'd look out for Yang, and she got hurt anyway. I blew it."

Tai gave her a sad smile. "Ruby Rose, Qrow Branwen's star pupil, learns the hardest lesson of all." When she looked at him, unshed tears in her eyes, he reached across the table and took her hands in his. "You can't always keep every promise. Your sister knew what she was getting into, how dangerous it could be. Yang is tough, Ruby – she'll spring back from this." Ruby hadn't looked up from their joined hands, and a few tears pattered onto the table between them. He let go of one hand and wiped the streaks from her face, lifting her chin to look at him. "She's alive, and from what I hear, we have Blake to thank for it. You might not have been there, but you trained your teammates well." She couldn't shake the sense of defeat that she felt, but she put on a brave face and tried to smile. He gave her cheek a reassuring pat and lightly knuckled her chin to the side. The coffee pot gurgled, and he got up to make two mugs. When he came back to the table, he set a plate of sugar cubes between them before sliding over her steaming cup. "What I don't understand is why she ran off after. Yang said she was hurt, too. Why would she do that?"

Ruby pretended to busy herself with dropping sugar cubes into her coffee and stirring them around with a spoon. She felt like it was Blake's story to tell, but she didn't want to hide _everything_ from her dad. "I think I know why," Ruby began hesitantly, "but you gotta promise you won't freak out." She looked at him, and his face held a look of doubt. "I mean it, dad. People will jump to conclusions, especially after everything that happened last night."

"Alright, Ruby, I'm listening." He took a sip of his drink and motioned for her to continue.

"Blake was White Fang before she came to Beacon," she began. If her father was shocked, he hid it well. Ruby debated how much to tell, knowing that she didn't have the full story herself. "There's a lot to it, but the short version is that she didn't like the direction they were heading, and she chose to walk away." She took a drink and tasted bitterness, in spite of the sweetener she'd put in it. "Yang probably knows more than I do."

"Are you sure she wasn't part of it all along?" Ruby refused to consider it, and her thoughts darkened at the idea that others would probably think the same thing.

"No way!" she shook her head vigorously. "We all fought with them last year, and she pushed the hardest. Not only that, but she told us about it. Why would she do that if she was a spy?"

Tai gave her a look of skepticism. "She could have been hiding in plain sight." Ruby started to object, but he interrupted her. "I guess if that were true, she probably wouldn't have bothered saving Yang. And I doubt Adam Taurus would have run her through either." He didn't look convinced to her, but he didn't press the issue further.

"I think we need to go find her, Weiss and I, that is." She somehow doubted that putting Adam Taurus' head on a spike would be something her dad would approve of, and it sounded plausible. A thought occurred to her then. Blake could be anywhere, but it was more likely that the two girls had the same thought. "We need to. She and Yang are… close."

"Oh," Tai replied. Then realization dawned in his eyes. " _Oh._ I see." Ruby could only nod. She'd been happy for Yang to have found someone, and appreciated the effect they'd had on one another. Tai was twisting his soul patch between forefinger and thumb, lost in thought. "You think she might be going after Adam to get revenge?"

"Somebody should…" Ruby muttered from beneath hooded eyes. Tai tilted his head and frowned in disapproval. Ruby knew the look well enough, so she edged away from the subject. "I'm still not sure what to tell Yang. If we're going to go after her girlfriend, we need to get going as soon as we can. She's already got a day's head start."

Tai held out his hand. "Okay, hold on a minute now – just you and Weiss?" Ruby nodded her head in silent assent. "I'm not sure I like that idea very much. It's a big world, and you have no idea where Blake went."

Ruby held up a slender finger. "Actually, about that…" She decided not to go into detail. "We got one of the Fang to talk. Adam's headed for Mistral."

Tai let his arm drop, but still had reservations. "Alright, fine, you know where she's going. Do you have a plan, or were the two of you just going to chase after her?"

Ruby frowned into her mug as she sipped from it. "You're not going to stop me?" She had expected him to forbid it. Not that he'd be able to enforce it. She, at least, would be too fast for him.

He sighed. "It occurs to me that you might be my daughter, but you're also a grown woman. The way you chased Jacques out of here earlier is proof enough of that." He swirled the last of his coffee and finished it. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to worry. It also doesn't mean you can't be smart about it and take a little advice from your old man, right?"

She gave her dad a wry grin. "I suppose so. You're probably right, we could use more people." Ruby stopped to think for a moment. "We don't have a lot of time, though. Do you know where the other students went after the evacuation? Are they still in the safe zone?"

"I'm not sure," Tai answered. "I heard that they were moving them out to the western edge of the city, but they may have changed the evacuation plan. Qrow should have a better idea. Who were you thinking of asking?"

Ruby had already begun to consider that when he suggested the pair shouldn't go alone. "I was sort of hoping Jaune's team might be ready to go, but there was something wrong with Pyrrha when we got to the safe zone." Ruby didn't elaborate, but the way the redhead had been talking, arguing with herself, had really spooked everyone. "I can talk to Coco and see if any of her team would be willing to come." She flatly refused to even consider Cardin or any of his teammates. Of all the other students she could think of, most were either on their way back to their respective schools, or had opted to go home.

"What are you planning on telling your sister?"

"Do you think she can handle the truth? I don't want to lie to her, but…" It was going to be hard enough for Yang to be left behind. She'd asked for Blake more than once before drifting off to sleep. They had all assured her that her partner would be there soon, and Yang had been hazy enough to accept it eventually.

Tai shook his head. "You don't want her to worry, but I think that's selling her short. She deserves the truth. She can handle it." Ruby nodded, and he held up his mug. "You want another cup? We've still got to come up with a better plan." Ruby slid her cup across the table and they spent the next hour discussing what their next steps.

 **A/N - Welcome back! A little bit shorter chapter this time. I started a new job today, which is playing merry hob with my plans to get back to a regular posting schedule. With a little luck, I should be back on track in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I've decided to spend another month working on Artificial Outlaw for those of you looking forward to some original fiction. Hang in there, and thanks for reading! :)**


End file.
